MIDDLETOWN — Bread and water at the former jail on Warwick Street in Middletown isn't what it used to be.

Back in 1850, it meant you were locked up. Today, it means you're at chef and owner Carl Ciarcia's new restaurant that re-uses the historic building.

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Ciarcia, a Berlin native, opened Bread and Water in January. He studied at the Connecticut Culinary Institute before spending a year in Milan, Italy, and has worked in Key West. Ciarcia moved back to the area and worked at Peppercorn's Grill in Hartford, Bricco's in West Hartford and the catering division of Grant's.

Bread and Water, at 51 Warwick St., is open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., and is available to book for private functions or parties Sundays through Wednesdays. The restaurant seats 48 at a time in three rooms within the jailhouse, including a small rear room that used to be one of the 12 cells and still has the original brownstone block walls.

Ciarcia said his time working with great chefs in Connecticut, Florida and Italy gave him a diverse skill set. He said his specialty is hand-rolled pastas, especially ravioli and gnocchi.

"By keeping everything small here, our menu changes quite often, and we can follow what's fresh and in season," Ciarcia said. "By changing the menu it gives me a chance to be creative every other week for a changing experience. We provide everyone who comes through our business at Bread and Water with a culinary experience."

He said owning his own restaurant has always been his dream. He has worked with staff members, including sous chef Robert Facey, at other restaurants in the past.

Lee Godburn, who owns the building and has no stake in the business other than being its landlord, said when he bought the building he wanted it to see some kind of public use so people could experience its history.

"We really had the same vision, this restaurant is not just a place to see people, it's a dining experience that goes with the history of the building," Godburn said. "It's off the beaten path so we had to give people something extra to go there."

The jail had living quarters at the front of the building for the jailer and his wife, who would have done the cooking and cleaning for prisoners, Godburn said. The building's construction coincided with a population boom in Middletown, and it was later the home of Leo B. Santangelo, the first Italian mayor of Middletown.

Sundays through Wednesdays Ciarcia plans to host private functions, catering to special requests from customers or local businesses like Liberty Bank, Wesleyan University or Middlesex Hospital for business lunches or other events. The menu and hours can be customized, he said, ranging anywhere from brunch to dinner, $20 per person to $250 per person for small groups or larger parties.

In recent years the jail has been used by a business management company, offices and a bakery. It sits behind the Middletown Alms House, a property on the National Register of Historic Places built in the early 1800s to house the city's poor.